The Poetaster | Page 2

into what we now call grandly "the theatrical
profession" we do not know. In 1593 Marlowe made his tragic exit
from life, and Greene, Shakespeare's other rival on the popular stage,
had preceded Marlowe in an equally miserable death the year before.
Shakespeare already had the running to himself. Jonson appears first in
the employment of Philip Henslowe, the exploiter of several troupes of
players, manager, and father-in-law of the famous actor, Edward
Alleyn. From entries in 'Henslowe's Diary', a species of theatrical
account book which has been handed down to us, we know that Jonson

was connected with the Admiral's men; for he borrowed £4 of
Henslowe, July 28, 1597, paying back 3s. 9d. on the same day on
account of his "share" (in what is not altogether clear); while later, on
December 3, of the same year, Henslowe advanced 20s. to him "upon a
book which he showed the plot unto the company which he promised to
deliver unto the company at Christmas next." In the next August Jonson
was in collaboration with Chettle and Porter in a play called "Hot
Anger Soon Cold." All this points to an association with Henslowe of
some duration, as no mere tyro would be thus paid in advance upon
mere promise. From allusions in Dekker's play, "Satiromastix," it
appears that Jonson, like Shakespeare, began life as an actor, and that
he "ambled in a leather pitch by a play-wagon" taking at one time the
part of Hieronimo in Kyd's famous play, "The Spanish Tragedy." By
the beginning of 1598, Jonson, though still in needy circumstances, had
begun to receive recognition. Francis Meres--well known for his
"Comparative Discourse of our English Poets with the Greek, Latin,
and Italian Poets," printed in 1598, and for his mention therein of a
dozen plays of Shakespeare by title --accords to Ben Jonson a place as
one of "our best in tragedy," a matter of some surprise, as no known
tragedy of Jonson from so early a date has come down to us. That
Jonson was at work on tragedy, however, is proved by the entries in
Henslowe of at least three tragedies, now lost, in which he had a hand.
These are "Page of Plymouth," "King Robert II. of Scotland," and
"Richard Crookback." But all of these came later, on his return to
Henslowe, and range from August 1599 to June 1602.
Returning to the autumn of 1598, an event now happened to sever for a
time Jonson's relations with Henslowe. In a letter to Alleyn, dated
September 26 of that year, Henslowe writes: "I have lost one of my
company that hurteth me greatly; that is Gabriel [Spencer], for he is
slain in Hogsden fields by the hands of Benjamin Jonson, bricklayer."
The last word is perhaps Henslowe's thrust at Jonson in his displeasure
rather than a designation of his actual continuance at his trade up to this
time. It is fair to Jonson to remark however, that his adversary appears
to have been a notorious fire-eater who had shortly before killed one
Feeke in a similar squabble. Duelling was a frequent occurrence of the
time among gentlemen and the nobility; it was an imprudent breach of
the peace on the part of a player. This duel is the one which Jonson

described years after to Drummond, and for it Jonson was duly
arraigned at Old Bailey, tried, and convicted. He was sent to prison and
such goods and chattels as he had "were forfeited." It is a thought to
give one pause that, but for the ancient law permitting convicted felons
to plead, as it was called, the benefit of clergy, Jonson might have been
hanged for this deed. The circumstance that the poet could read and
write saved him; and he received only a brand of the letter "T," for
Tyburn, on his left thumb. While in jail Jonson became a Roman
Catholic; but he returned to the faith of the Church of England a dozen
years later.
On his release, in disgrace with Henslowe and his former associates,
Jonson offered his services as a playwright to Henslowe's rivals, the
Lord Chamberlain's company, in which Shakespeare was a prominent
shareholder. A tradition of long standing, though not susceptible of
proof in a court of law, narrates that Jonson had submitted the
manuscript of "Every Man in His Humour" to the Chamberlain's men
and had received from the company a refusal; that Shakespeare called
him back, read the play himself, and at once accepted it. Whether this
story is true or not, certain it is that "Every Man in His Humour" was
accepted by Shakespeare's company and acted for the first time in 1598,
with Shakespeare taking a part. The evidence of this is contained in the
list of actors prefixed to the comedy in